Suddenly, BP loves Socialism. Suddenly, Sarah Palin—you know, that host of a Nature show on Discovery— and her mob-mongering falls silent.

Spill, Baby, Spill: Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party and BP’s refusal to use a safety valve—”socialism” has never looked better.

BP Left Off A SECOND Emergency Shut Off!Climate Progress cuts through the reporting of the New York Times to remind us that in addition to the $500,000 acoustic cut-off switch, that could of prevented this all but was left off in an effort to save money, apparently there was another safety measure, allegedly also left off as a cost-saving measure, that could have been employed by BP:

Another worker familiar with the rig told the lawyers that the company had chosen not to install a deep-water valve that would have been placed about 200 feet under the sea floor. Much like blowout preventers, devices that are meant to seal leaks, this valve could have served as a cutoff of last resort in explosions, the lawyers said.”The company took their chances in not having the valve so they could save money,” said Mike Papantonio, one of the lawyers representing the shrimpers and fishermen.

Mr. Gowers [a BP spokesman] declined to comment on that claim except to say that the investigation was continuing and that it was too early to speculate.

The timing is both ironic, scarcely one month after President Obama opened key coastal waters to offshore drilling, and tragic. It’s migration season for millions of birds, which must now forage amid poisoned marshlands. It’s also nesting season for endangered sea turtles, which must now drag themselves up oil-slicked beaches. The turtles, by the way, face a double threat: They may be entangled in the nets of shrimp boats, which are springing to action in a last-ditch effort to scoop up the crustaceans before oil shuts down the fishery, as it already has the oyster industry and local finfisheries. First estimates predict $2.5 billion in fishery losses, with another $3 billion lost in tourism revenues…

Oh, Rush and company must wish President Obama were throwing taxpaper money at this, so they could attack him. From the White House press conference (via Daily Kos, No Bailout for BP):

GIBBS: In accordance with the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, passed after the Exxon Valdez, BP, as the responsible party, is required to fund the cost of the response and cleanup operations, and they are doing so.

…

NAPOLITANO: As the President and the law have made clear, BP is the responsible party and is required to fund the costs of the response and cleanup operations.

…

Q: You mentioned that there’s going to be a much greater federal response to this. Can you give us an estimate of how much you think this is going to cost in a worst-case scenario, and who is going to bear the cost of that response? Will it be American taxpayers?

GIBBS: Under the Oil Pollution Act, BP pays for all this.

Q: They pay for everything?

GIBBS: Yes.

…

Q: You said that BP is responsible for ultimately footing the bill, but have there been any initial cost estimates that have been —

GIBBS: For — the initial cost estimate for BP?

Q: Yes — Just total.

GIBBS: I would direct that to BP.

Oh, Tea Partiers…if you don’t want government intruding on your life, why don’t you take care of this? Also from Daily Kos:

In a news conference, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the disaster a “spill of national significance.” That allows the federal government to mobilize additional resources along the coast and to centralize communication. She said 1,100 people were working to contain the spill and that 685,000 gallons of oily water had been collected so far.

“We’ll take help from anyone,” BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said on NBC’s Today show, adding that he welcomes assistance from the military.

Of course, last year, when the government was trying to enact more effective safety measures, BP strongly opposed enhanced regulation, preferring a voluntary set of safety measures instead.

Now, less than a year later, BP has proven itself incapable of safely operating offshore drilling equipment, and the government is stepping in, as it must and as it should. It’s not just that government has the resources to intervene, it’s also that of all the players in this mess, the government is the only one that is ultimately accountable to the public…

There are alot of generalizations and histrionics in this story … that are tabloid sensationalism… sort of feels like I am reading the National Enquirer not factual journalism …. too bad.. this could have been a great place for the left voice to take the high road, get the facts straight and contribute to a solution.. this is nothing but Rush Limbaugh in a Green suit…

elephantjournal.com
I'd rather we put energy and subsidies toward pushing clean, green, safe, independent energy sources. Don't see how it's hateful to suggest BP might have not rejected not one but two safety valves. This is not about the environment—it's about our environment, tourism, fishing jobs…and corporate recklessness.

Mary Fitzsimons
Elephant does not spread hate , being critical and analytical is intelligent, observational, not hateful.
One must find out what the problems are and name them before they can be fixed.
Hopefully this will push more wind farms etc,staffed by americans and owned by the people.

Mitchell Manz
it just seems that the elephants posts are often divisive.

Mary you should be informed that energy from wind farms can not be storred. Often times they end up using more resources to build and operate that they produce.

I'm all for being green too but we should be smart about it. Pointing fingers saying this one said that gets nothing done … See Moreand we all look foolish. Fact is there are other countries drilling right off of our shore, but our government regulations prohibit us from drilling it ourselves, eliminating American jobs and squandering tax dollars. We have to work with what we have, and for now as unfortunate as it may be is oil.

namaste

Roger Williams
hate seems a bit strong here my friend. if you disagree that is fine.

to your point what other countries are allowing drilling in US waters? i am interested to hear more about that.

Tiffany Rice
Mitchell, how do you figure? up until a few days ago, dur to the horrible mess currenlt playing out in the gulf, obama was allowing off shore drilling. I would like to know why these few jobs are of more concern to you than tapping into American ingenuity by promoting green energy alternatives? Also, how do you figure we are squandering tax dollars?

I like that i don't agree with everything elephant posts. I am looking to grow, not stay stasus quo.

elephantjournal.com
Amen, Tiffany! We're all about dialogue, not agreeing. Mitchell, I'd be honored to invite you to write up your ideas re offshore drilling, American jobs, foreign companies drilling anyways…and how to promote solutions in non-divisive ways.

Audrey Bowers Price
I wish more focus would be put into stopping this spill other than who, what, didn't do, etc. Fix now, point fingers later.

Every second of the day we are destroying our planet and life and this will be for years to come…

elephantjournal.com
Funny, Audrey, "pointing fingers" is all about cause and effect—karma—accepting blame and moving to fix the problem is our way out of this mess. BP willfully decided not to install two simple turn-off valves. We're all paying, now.

Audrey Bowers Price
BP is at fault. This is a known fact. The other known fact is that thousands of oil is being spilt into our beautiful ocean everyday, every second, and talking about what they didn't do or should have done will resolve NOTHING at this point. Focus is not in the right direction in my view.

Roger Williams
unless we learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it… or something to that effect. I have found this to be very true personally.

elephantjournal.com
Amen, Roger. Audrey, thanks for your concerns. If we don't look to see what BP did wrong, we can't make sure alllll oil rigs (there's hundreds active right now) have these valves in place. Nearly all do not. This isn't about blame. This is about responsibility.http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/05/corporatio…

elephantjournal.com
I'd rather we put energy and subsidies toward pushing clean, green, safe, independent energy sources. Don't see how it's hateful to suggest BP might have not rejected not one but two safety valves. This is not about the environment—it's about our environment, tourism, fishing jobs…and corporate recklessness.

Mary Fitzsimons
Elephant does not spread hate , being critical and analytical is intelligent, observational, not hateful.
One must find out what the problems are and name them before they can be fixed.
Hopefully this will push more wind farms etc,staffed by americans and owned by the people.

Mitchell Manz
it just seems that the elephants posts are often divisive.

Mary you should be informed that energy from wind farms can not be storred. Often times they end up using more resources to build and operate that they produce.

I'm all for being green too but we should be smart about it. Pointing fingers saying this one said that gets nothing done … See Moreand we all look foolish. Fact is there are other countries drilling right off of our shore, but our government regulations prohibit us from drilling it ourselves, eliminating American jobs and squandering tax dollars. We have to work with what we have, and for now as unfortunate as it may be is oil.

namaste

Roger Williams
hate seems a bit strong here my friend. if you disagree that is fine.

to your point what other countries are allowing drilling in US waters? i am interested to hear more about that.

Tiffany Rice
Mitchell, how do you figure? up until a few days ago, dur to the horrible mess currenlt playing out in the gulf, obama was allowing off shore drilling. I would like to know why these few jobs are of more concern to you than tapping into American ingenuity by promoting green energy alternatives? Also, how do you figure we are squandering tax dollars?

I like that i don't agree with everything elephant posts. I am looking to grow, not stay stasus quo.

elephantjournal.com
Amen, Tiffany! We're all about dialogue, not agreeing. Mitchell, I'd be honored to invite you to write up your ideas re offshore drilling, American jobs, foreign companies drilling anyways…and how to promote solutions in non-divisive ways.

Audrey Bowers Price
I wish more focus would be put into stopping this spill other than who, what, didn't do, etc. Fix now, point fingers later.

Every second of the day we are destroying our planet and life and this will be for years to come…

elephantjournal.com
Funny, Audrey, "pointing fingers" is all about cause and effect—karma—accepting blame and moving to fix the problem is our way out of this mess. BP willfully decided not to install two simple turn-off valves. We're all paying, now.

Audrey Bowers Price
BP is at fault. This is a known fact. The other known fact is that thousands of oil is being spilt into our beautiful ocean everyday, every second, and talking about what they didn't do or should have done will resolve NOTHING at this point. Focus is not in the right direction in my view.

Roger Williams
unless we learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it… or something to that effect. I have found this to be very true personally.

elephantjournal.com
Amen, Roger. Audrey, thanks for your concerns. If we don't look to see what BP did wrong, we can't make sure alllll oil rigs (there's hundreds active right now) have these valves in place. Nearly all do not. This isn't about blame. This is about responsibility.http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/05/corporatio…

elephantjournal.com
I'd rather we put energy and subsidies toward pushing clean, green, safe, independent energy sources. Don't see how it's hateful to suggest BP might have not rejected not one but two safety valves. This is not about the environment—it's about our environment, tourism, fishing jobs…and corporate recklessness.

Mary Fitzsimons
Elephant does not spread hate , being critical and analytical is intelligent, observational, not hateful.
One must find out what the problems are and name them before they can be fixed.
Hopefully this will push more wind farms etc,staffed by americans and owned by the people.

Mitchell Manz
it just seems that the elephants posts are often divisive.

Mary you should be informed that energy from wind farms can not be storred. Often times they end up using more resources to build and operate that they produce.

I'm all for being green too but we should be smart about it. Pointing fingers saying this one said that gets nothing done … See Moreand we all look foolish. Fact is there are other countries drilling right off of our shore, but our government regulations prohibit us from drilling it ourselves, eliminating American jobs and squandering tax dollars. We have to work with what we have, and for now as unfortunate as it may be is oil.

namaste

Roger Williams
hate seems a bit strong here my friend. if you disagree that is fine.

to your point what other countries are allowing drilling in US waters? i am interested to hear more about that.

Tiffany Rice
Mitchell, how do you figure? up until a few days ago, dur to the horrible mess currenlt playing out in the gulf, obama was allowing off shore drilling. I would like to know why these few jobs are of more concern to you than tapping into American ingenuity by promoting green energy alternatives? Also, how do you figure we are squandering tax dollars?

I like that i don't agree with everything elephant posts. I am looking to grow, not stay stasus quo.

elephantjournal.com
Amen, Tiffany! We're all about dialogue, not agreeing. Mitchell, I'd be honored to invite you to write up your ideas re offshore drilling, American jobs, foreign companies drilling anyways…and how to promote solutions in non-divisive ways.

Audrey Bowers Price
I wish more focus would be put into stopping this spill other than who, what, didn't do, etc. Fix now, point fingers later.

Every second of the day we are destroying our planet and life and this will be for years to come…

elephantjournal.com
Funny, Audrey, "pointing fingers" is all about cause and effect—karma—accepting blame and moving to fix the problem is our way out of this mess. BP willfully decided not to install two simple turn-off valves. We're all paying, now.

Audrey Bowers Price
BP is at fault. This is a known fact. The other known fact is that thousands of oil is being spilt into our beautiful ocean everyday, every second, and talking about what they didn't do or should have done will resolve NOTHING at this point. Focus is not in the right direction in my view.

Roger Williams
unless we learn from the past we are doomed to repeat it… or something to that effect. I have found this to be very true personally.

elephantjournal.com
Amen, Roger. Audrey, thanks for your concerns. If we don't look to see what BP did wrong, we can't make sure alllll oil rigs (there's hundreds active right now) have these valves in place. Nearly all do not. This isn't about blame. This is about responsibility.http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/05/corporatio…

I wish there was more journalism here. How come no one mentions that this spill is MINOR compared to the one Chevron did in the 70s in Ecuador – a spill that still has not been cleaned up. I guess that would involve someone being a journalist instead of posting sensational titles and scrapped content. I sure hope when you start to pay your writers, it will also force the "editor" to look closer at what is being posted. This is an important story, but we lose out on how important when it is surrounded by sensational titles that are there simply to get internet traffic.